Road repair equipment roller attachment for graders



June 23, 1959 v M N I 2,891,335

I ROAD REPAIR EQUIPMENT ROLLER ATTACHMENT FOR GRADERS Filed June 2, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

FRED H. L/NNEMAN ATT R/wsrs Unite States Patent ROAD REPAIR EQUIPMENT ROLLER A'ITACH- MENT FOR GRADERS Fred H. Linneman, Denver, Colo.

Application June 2, 1955, Serial No. 512,642

6 Claims. (Cl. 37-146);

This invention relates to road repair equipment, andv more particularly to earth packing attachments for motor graders for use in packing the back fill dirt of narrow service lines and/ or pipe ditches.

The device of the present invention includes a marrow.

sheeps foot roller arranged to be mounted so as to extend forwardly of the front guide wheels of a motor grader.

The roller is pivotally mounted so. as to be raised and lowered into a service ditch with sufiicient force to raise,

the front wheels of the motor grader from the ground whereby the grader rides on the packing roller and its rear wheels; the weight of the grader on the roller packsthe back fill dirt in the ditch as the grader runs therealong.

Y The grader blade may be used simultaneously with the.

packing roller to back fill the ditch behind the packing roller. The roller'when in dirt packing position, guides the grader along the ditch without the use of the grader front wheels, even where the ditch curves along the roadway. The roller may be simplyand easily attached to standard motor graders, and the mechanisms which normally operate a scarifying blade may be :advantar.

call for excavating a ditch only slightly largerthan pipe,

which is placed therein. There will, thereforebe miles of narrow ditches for service lines,..pipes, etc. in andv around urban communities, and invariably the: ditch runs in the middle of or along a surfaced road. To correctly complete the ditching job, the back fill dirt must be tamped w and in raised position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the roller according to the invention in operative position tamping the back fill dirt of a ditch; 1 r

Fig. 3 is a side elevation in partial section showing in enlarged detail the mounting of the roller on the front of a motor grader; and- Fig. 4 isa bottom elevation of a roller and its mounting frameworkaccording to the invention.

In the device illustrated, a motor grader is indicated in general by numeral 1. Motor graders are more or less standard pieces of roadworking equipment, and they, generally, include two pairs of drive wheels 2 mounted toward the rear of the vehicle and a front drive wheel assembly 3 mounted at the forward end of the arched frame of the device. A scraper blade 4 is provided for the, grader mounted beneath the curved frame, and the blade is adapted to be turned at various angles, lifted and lowered to perform various scraping operations along roadways; Theroller attachment of the invention ineludes a sheeps foot roller 8 mounted on a carrying framework 9 which is secured to the front of the motor grader and is controlled by a system of levers 10 on the grader; The-roller 8 is a cylindrical member journaled for rotation on. an axle 11 which is secured to the front of theframe 9. A plurality of projections or sheeps feet 12 extend from the periphery of the cylinder for packing dirt in a ditch. The supporting frame9 includes a top plate 13 and a system of reinforcing members 14 to provide sufficient strength for the frame 9. A lateral link or T bar member 15 is mounted on the frame 9 on the end opposite the roller 8, and one end of the lateral link is secured to the motor grader frame by means of an axle- 16 journaled to a support lever 17 which normally holds ascarifying blade. The opposite end of the T-shaped link 15 is secured to the operating link 10, which normally or packed tightly enough to prevent sinking of the. re

surfaced ditch below the surface of the adjoining roadway Commonly used ditch .tamping machines, which include a reciprocating tamperr may perform an adequate job of, packing the dirt, but; they are too slow and requirean additional-piece of equipment for back filling, slowing down the. entire crew of the ditching operation. 1 The ditching. 1 3 1 Included among the. objects and advantages of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive earth tamp ing or packing attachmentfor a motor graderwhich may be used simultaneously with the grader-bladelfor,packing. back fill dirt simultaneously with the blade which is further back filling the tamped ditch. The roller attachment eifectively and efliciently tamps the back fill dirt in narrow service iditches-withoutthe use of additional equipment or an additional operator. The device is easily and quickly mounted on standard motor graders having a front scarifying blade mount, and the roller operates on the scarifying blade'lever system. The roller is arranged to be lowered into a service ditch 'with sufiicient powe r to raise the front wheels of the grader-oft the ground, and to guide the along the 'ditch'during flie rolliiig operation.

is utilized to raise and lower :the soarifying blade. The link 15 rotates about axle 16 as the lever arm 10 is moved, raising and lowering the frame 9. A pair of'cleaning teeth 18 are secured to the frame 9 and are positioned to ride between the rows of teeth 12 in proximity to the drum periphery to prevent accumulation of dirt on the drum. The number of cleaning teethis, of course, controlled by the number of rows of sheeps feet projections on the cylinder 8 and by the stickiness of the dirt in which the machine is operating.

. For operation of the machine, a narrow service ditch is dug by -a ditching machine, not shown, and the service pipesor whatever is to be buried in the ditch is connected up,- .placed in the ditch and the ditch is made ready for backfilling, that is filling in the dirt which was taken from theditch. The motor grader 1 is then run along the ditch using only the blade 4 to partially back fill the ditch, that is ,putting in a small amount of the pile of dirt along the ditch. 'For back filling, scraping or for normally F transporting the grader from place. to place the roller is maintained in position as indicated in Fig.- 1. On the return of the motor grader back along the partially filled ditch, the .roller 8 is lowered into the ditch into contact withthe dirt and with sufiicient power to raise the front wheels?) completely off of the ground indicated at 21 in Fig. 2. The motor grader riding on the roller as a front wheel isthen started back along the ditch. The roller packs the loose dirt 23 which the grader-has back filled into the ditch on the first pass, leaving a packed or tamped partial back fill 24. Simultaneously with running the motor grader back along the ditch in the tamping grader runs on the two drive wheels 2-andthe-tamping cylinder 8. Since the cylinder is in the-ditch thegra'der will he guided along the ditch'by the cylindereven when theditch curves along a roadway, and the operator may divert his entire attention to the properb'ack fill without having to worry about guidingthe grader along the course of the ditch. The operation of tamping and back filling is continued until all the dirt has been scraped back into the ditch and hasbeen tampedinto the ditch by means of the roller. roller or by the wheels of the grader.

By having the roller extended outwardly in-front of the drive wheels of the motor grader the roller'is'=given a downward component due to the forward--motionof the motor grader, so that the tamp-ing effect of the cylinder is substantially greater than a roller with merely a heavy weight on it. Also, by having the cylinder extended in front of the drive wheels of the motor grader there is no tendency for the cylinder to climb out of ditch in the event the cylinder comes in contact with'th'e side wall of the ditch in which it is operating. The roller may be used in substantially all 'ditchingoperations, and a very effective combination may be realized by having a roller corresponding to the width of trenching or ditching machine. By wetting the backfill, it is possible to pack the dirtmore tightly than before trenching so that additional dirt must be used to completely fill the ditch;

While the invention has been illustrated by reference to a specific embodiment, there is no intent to limit the scope thereof to the precise details so set forth except insofar as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A ditch rolling attachment for a motor grader, com: prising a frame having a wide portion at its inner end and a compacting roller journaled for rotation at the outer end of said frame, said wide portion-havingmeans laterally of the lengthwise axis of 'said frame for'its' pivotal connection with the forward end of a motor grader, and having other means spaced from said pivotal connection'for its connection with an actuating member on the grader arranged to impart a pivotal movement to said frame whereby the roller is moved from an.ele-' vated point to the ditch bottom substantially-below'the surface on which the grader wheels are supported such as to suspend the front end of the grader and utilize its weight in the compacting movement of the roller."

2. A ditch'rolling attachment for a motor grader, comprising an elongated frame having a wide portion at its inner end and a sheeps foot roller journaled for rotation at the outer end of said frame, said wide portion having means laterallyof the lengthwise axis of said frame for. its pivotal connection with the forward end of a motor grader, and having other means spaced from said pivotal connection for itsconnection with an' actuating'member on-the grader arranged to impart a swinging movement to said frame whereby'the roller is moved from-an elevated point to the ditch bottom substantially below the surface on which the grader wheels are supported such as tosuspe nd the front end of the grader and utilize its weight in the compacting movement of the roller; "said roller including plural rows of projections for tamping earth contacted by said rolleryand a plurality of teeth mounted on said frame and depending into the spaces The final tamping may be made byth'e" horizontal axis and having a compacting roller journaled for-rotationabout-a parallel axis at the outer end of said frame, and means at said inner end spaced from said first means for connection with an actuating member on the grader arranged to impart a swinging movement to said frame whereby the roller is moved from an elevated point to the ditch bottom substantially below the surface on which the grader Wheels are supported such as to suspend thefront'end of'the'graderrand utilize its weight in the compacting movement of "the iroller.

4. The combination with a wheel-supported motor grader having apower system at its forward end, of a ditch rollingiattachment including an elongated frame having at one end a pivotal connection with the forward end of the grader about a horizontal axis and means extending laterally from said elongated frame and connected to said power system for moving said frame about said axis, a compacting roller mounted for rotation about a parallelhb'rizontal-axisatthe forward end of said frame and "carriedby said frame in swinging movements im parted by' said power system between an-elevated position above the surface on which the 'graderis supported and a"lo'w'er position at the ditch bottom below said surface, inwhichda'tter' positionthe'forward end of the grader is-elevated*abovesa idsurface'su'ch that its weight'is utilized in the compacting rotational movement of the roller.

'5. The cornbination' with" a wheel-supported motor rader-having a power system at 'its forward-end, of-a ditch-rolling attaehmentdncluding an elongated-frame havmg'yone inner=portion inpivo'tal connection about a htirizontah axis at thefo'rwardendof the grader and another-'iiiner portion indriven connection-with said power syste'n'rfor-movingsa-id-frame about said axis, a compact-' ing-roller'mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis at the-outer end-of said-frameyand saidpivot'al mounting providing 'a range of swinging -movements imparted by thepower system'between' an elevated position above the surface-'on-"which the grader is supported and a lower position at the ditchbottom-below said surface, in whichlatte'r p'osi'tion" the forward end 'of the grader is elevated ahove-saidsurface such that its weight is utilized in the c'ompactingr'otational-movement of the roller along the ditch.-

I fiiA'ppara'tus for back filling and tampin'g a service ditch; comprising a motor grader having rear driving wheels' and-frontguiding'wheels,-inclusive of a power system," a' ditch"rollin-g attachment including a rolling meniber 'pivoted'atthe forward end of said grader'in driven-connection with said power system and'movable thereby between' an elevated inactive position and a lower active'position in engagement with the-bottom of a ditchstraddled by said grader in its operative movement,--' an'dthe rno'vementof'said rolling member into the di-t'ch' being arranged 'to' elevate the front end of said grader to lift'saidguiding wheels from the'surface over which the=g'rader is'moved so as to utilize 'the weight of the g'raderin the'earth-compacting movement of the rolling' m'ember along said ditchand whereby the steering of the grader is efiected by movement of the rolling memher along the-- ditch,and scraper means carried on'the grader rearwardly' of said rolling member for directing additionalearth into the ditch-concurrently with the earthbetweenthe'rows of projections on saidroller for 're compacting operation;

References Citedinthefile' of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 116313271 Keeler June 7, 1927 1,906 547, Da r- May 2, 1933' 2116159331 Flynn Nov. 11, 1941 2;3j39;5;1 8 "Reiss'e'r Jan. 18', 1944 2,385,025 wins-u Oct. 2, 1945 "2,489 ;34'9 White; Nov, 29,1949 

